It runs all night
From ten at night until six in the morning the lines keep going. That's the detail that matters when you're heading back from the beach at 3 AM.
Getting around
Getting around Novalja and Zrće.
You really don't need a car here. The city bus runs to Zrće and back for about a euro, day and right through the night, while a taxi can ask anywhere from ten to twenty-five. Here's how to move between Stara Novalja, Novalja and the beaches without overpaying, plus the one phrase that saves you from the tourist markup.
Read this first
The taxi
catch.
Most taxis in Novalja don't run a meter. The fare is whatever gets agreed before you pull away, or whatever gets quoted after if you forgot to ask. That gap is where tourists lose money.
By day, the Novalja to Zrće run sits around ten to fifteen euros. After midnight it climbs to fifteen or twenty, and on a big festival night it can reach twenty-five. Even Uber's own estimate for a short ride in town lands near fourteen.
A few things to watch for:
- Cars without the official "Novalja Taxi" sticker. If it isn't there, wave the next one down.
- A driver who won't name a price until you've already arrived.
- The 2 to 4 AM rush after a festival closes, when the apps go quiet and street taxis know it.
- App drivers who stop on the main road rather than the Zrće car park, to dodge the parking fee. You finish the last stretch on foot.
Best value by far
The one-euro bus does
almost everything.
This is the part most visitors miss. Arriva runs a dedicated Novalja to Zrće city service all summer, roughly June to September, and a single ride is about a euro.
Four lines, one matters most
Line 3 (black) is the most direct from town to Zrće. Line 1 (red) does the full scenic loop. Lines 2 and 4 cover Gajac and the stops in between.
Tickets and passes
A single is about a euro, card only on board. Staying a while? The 3, 4, 5 and 7-day wristbands give you unlimited rides and pay for themselves fast.
Coming from Stara Novalja? The simplest move is to get to the Novalja terminal first, an eight-minute hop, then jump on any direct Zrće line. All in, that's around a euro and twenty-five minutes.
At a glance
Every option,
side by side.
For the Novalja to Zrće leg, in roughly the order we'd reach for them. Prices are seasonal and shift year to year, so treat them as a guide, not a quote.
| Option | Cost | Runs | At night | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arriva city bus | ~€1 | Every 20 to 30 min | All night | Best value. Buy in the Arriva app. |
| Multi-day pass | Varies | Unlimited rides | All night | Worth it for three days or more. Buy ahead. |
| Bolt app | About €6 | On demand | Thin 2 to 4 AM | Cheaper than a street taxi. Order early. |
| Street taxi | €10 to €25 | Always | Yes | Agree the price before you get in. |
| Scooter rental | €30+ a day | Your schedule | Your call | Licence needed, and no drinking. |
| Walking | Free | Always | Unsafe | About 30 minutes, daytime only. |
| Festival shuttle | €20 to €50/wk | Frequent | Yes | Festival weeks only. Check the event site. |
The rest of your options
When the bus won't do.
Bolt
Cheaper than a street taxi, around six or seven euros to Zrće. Order it ten minutes before you actually want to leave, because cars get thin on the ground at three in the morning.
Scooter
The long-stay local move. About thirty euros a day, and a few Novalja shops will drop one at your door. You'll need a B licence, and Croatia runs strict checks with zero tolerance for alcohol.
On foot
Town to Zrće is under an hour through the olive groves, and pretty by day. Skip it after dark, though. Once you turn off the main road it's unlit with no pavement, and the late traffic isn't always sober.
The tourist train
Camping Straško's little road train, the Tomičar, putters between the town centre and the campsite from late morning. Slow, cheap, and a hit with kids.
Festival shuttle
Hideout, Sonus, Dropzone and the rest sell their own week-long shuttle wristbands, usually twenty to fifty euros. If you're there for the festival, it's the best deal going.
A myth, busted
The Šimuni detour? Skip it.
There's an old trick that still floats around the forums: ride past Zrće to Šimuni, then double back, supposedly cheaper than going straight there. It made sense once. It doesn't now.
The Šimuni to Zrće bus runs maybe every four hours and is built for the regional island route, not the Novalja beach crowd. The direct Arriva city bus already costs about a euro and comes every twenty to thirty minutes, all night. Going via Šimuni just adds half an hour of waiting and saves you nothing.
Does the Šimuni detour still save money? Not anymore.
If you remember five things
The short version.
- 1
Take the bus. At a euro a ride it beats a taxi for the Zrće run every time, unless you're a big group with luggage.
- 2
Staying three days or more, get the multi-day wristband. Unlimited rides, and it pays for itself by the second afternoon.
- 3
Put the Arriva Croatia app on your phone before you arrive, for tickets and live times. Keep Bolt as a backup.
- 4
Never get in a taxi without hearing the price first. One word does it: "Koliko?"
- 5
And don't walk to Zrće at night. Once you're off the main road it's unlit with no pavement, and the late traffic isn't careful.
Your base for all of it
Stay where it's quiet, and close.
Both apartments sit on the calm side of Stara Novalja, a short hop from the bus and eight hundred metres from Planjka beach. Pick the one that suits you.